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CNNfn market movers
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February 8, 1999: 2:32 p.m. ET
Chip suppliers get a boost but e-brokers keep sliding; AMR shares drop
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Communication was the keyword guiding Wall Street Monday, with Internet and telecom news accounting for a substantial number of the day's market-moving stocks.
New York shares of Finnish telecom firm Nokia (NOK.A) celebrated news that 81 percent sales growth had made it the world's top mobile phone maker, surging 4-7/16 to 134-13/16. Merrill Lynch added to the festivities by rating the stock "near-term accumulate, long-term buy."
Also in the technology sector, the allure of Internet commerce helped networking firm Micros-to-Mainframes (MTMC) jump 2-3/8 to 8-3/4. The company began public tests of two fully integrated electronic retail sites Monday and expects the sites to go fully live by March 1.
Singapore Internet service provider Pacific Internet (PCNTF) stumbled in its second day of public trading, falling 10-11/16 to 37-5/16. On Friday, the stock debuted at 17 and leapt 31 points, but analysts said heavy competition in Asia made the stock risky at its current price.
E-brokers buffeted
The online brokerages also had a rough time of it, with both Ameritrade (AMTD) and E*Trade (EGRP) sliding amid fears that the companies may have expanded beyond their technological capacity.
Ameritrade plunged 10-3/4 to 84-3/4 after a service outage left clients unable to trade shares over the Internet or touch-tone phones for nearly a half hour. E*Trade, which has suffered several service interruptions in recent days, dipped 5/16 to 48-5/8.
Shareholders took advantage of the news to take profits and consolidate positions throughout the discount brokerage industry, which has risen in recent weeks on the general e-trading buzz.
JB Oxford (JBOH) lost 3-1/16 to 8-11/16, National Discount Brokers (NDB) dropped 2-3/4 to 24-1/4 and M.H. Meyerson (MHMY) slid 1-29/32 to 6-1/32.
Contracts, mergers cut both ways
Diversified manufacturers Boeing (BA) and TRW (TRW) also fell back after the U.S. Air Force canceled missile defense contracts worth a total of $800 million to the two companies. Boeing slid 7/8 to 36-3/16 and TRW lost 1/8 to 50-9/16.
On the other hand, more successful contract negotiations failed to favor data storage firm EMC (EMC), which was up only 1/4 at 97-3/4 after landing a major supply contract with Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL). The stock climbed as high as 102 in morning trading, leading traders to suspect profit-taking setting in.
Among the day's steady trickle of mergers and acquisitions activity, insurer Executive Risk (ER) soared 20-1/8 to 64-1/8 on news that Chubb (CB) will buy the company for an estimated $71.71 per share in stock. Chubb shares slipped 3-3/16 to 54-7/8.
Reinsurer NAC Re (NRC), which compensates insurers for their losses, soared 6-15/16 to 52-1/4 after confirming months of takeover speculation by saying that it is indeed looking to merge with one of several would-be partners.
Patriot American Hospitality (PAH) climbed on merger excitement, up 13/16 to 6-7/8 upon becoming the object of a smoldering bidding war between Hilton Hotels (HLT) and Apollo Real Estate Advisors LP.
Apollo also figured into the decline of Building One Services (BOSS) shares, which tumbled 2-1/2 to 17-5/8 after the company ended its merger agreement with Apollo subsidiary Boss Investment LLC.
American Airlines holding company AMR (AMR) lost ground solely on internal news, falling 3-1/16 to 56-7/8 after the third day of a pilot work slowdown forced the airline to cancel more flights.
Chip industry vendors looking good
One bright spot was the chip-equipment sector, which received a number of Wall Street analyst upgrades due to growing belief that the industry will pick up strength as the current semiconductor recovery gathers speed.
Applied Materials (AMAT) reaped the benevolence of Morgan Stanley, climbing 4-11/16 to 65-3/8 after the investment firm rated it "strong buy." Merrill Lynch also upped the semiconductor industry supplier's recommendation to "near-term buy."
Merrill Lynch upgraded Novellus System (NVLS) to "buy" from "accumulate," raising the stock's price target to 105. Novellus shares rallied in response, climbing 3-9/16 to 70-3/16.
Other chip-equipment makers getting Merrill Lynch upgrades included Lam Research (LRCX), which climbed 11/16 to 35-3/4, Cymer (CYMI), which added 2-13/16 to 27-15/16 and KLA-Tencor (KLAC), up 3-3/4 at 57-5/8.
Specialty chip maker LSI Logic (LSI) was another of the semiconductor sector's winners, gaining 3-3/16 to 27 on the debut of its CDMA processor, which promises to run wireless communications equipment like telephones or modems on a single chip. 
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